Steamed cakes to heat things up

AI tools employed by NEC on this project possess high accuracy. One of those applied to this task was “NEC Enhanced Speech Analysis” which utilizes speech recognition technology belonging to NEC’s AI technology’s group “NEC the WISE”. Izumi Kuwata, NEC’s data scientist, revealed, “It is an innovative SaaS service that supports customers’ DX, using speech recognition technology that far exceeds conventional standards. Its strength is found in recognizing free conversations such as those in online meetings”. In this project, it was used to recognize ABEMA’s conversation data. Another of NEC’s proprietary technologies applied to this project was NEC Data Enrichment. In the context of this project, it analyzed words in the loving interactions found in the TV show’s scripts, and found the emotional trends in each scene; then, attributed number values to the words reflecting the strongest emotions.

Similarly, some 35,000 songs containing 183 types of fruits and sweets were analyzed so that a list of the top 50 foods expressing love’s emotions could be drafted for Kimuraya to select which tastes would suit each other best, in combinations which expressed love as a taste. Literally completing the package, NEC’s Large Language Model (LLM) - an AI Technology - helped develop product names and descriptions to be printed on the packaging.

The name of the resulting five steamed cakes - dubbed “Ren AI Pan” (for “falling in love breads,” in Japanese) plays on the Japanese phrase “Ren ai” for falling in love, and the AI of “artificial intelligence”; the Japanese character for “love” (愛) is read as “AI,” phonetically.  Listed in order of their launch dates, they are #05 “Musubare ru ryoomoi” (Mutual Love), #04 “Namida no shitsuren” (Broken heart), #03 “Yakimochi” (Jealousy), #02 “Hajimete no deto” (Date), and #01 “Unmei no deai” (Fateful Encounter).

Number five and four were released to supermarkets around the Kanto area, as well as to online stores, from February 1st, 2024. And, the other three will be treated to staggered releases; with Jealousy on March 1st. Then, both Date and First Encounter will reach your taste buds on April 1st.

Having your cake and eating it too

Students who sampled these confections joyously endorsed Kimuraya’s triumph.

A young female high school student piped in cheerfully, “I’ve never been in love, but the sweet taste (of Ren AI Pan) makes me want to fall in love!”.

Another reflected carefully, “At first, I couldn’t imagine what it would taste like since it was so colorful, but when I actually tried it, it was very sweet and delicious. I haven’t had a boyfriend yet, but as I listened to my favorite music and ate (Ren AI Pan), I thought it would be great if we could have a wonderful love life”.

All participating students found it hard to choose a favorite Ren AI Pan, due to strong emotional reactions to most every one. However, Ms. Kuwata - a young twenty-something herself - eagerly explained the fervor behind her top pick.

“It’s got to be #05 “Musubare ru ryoomoi” (mutual love)” because the name "ryoomoi" symbolizes love the most. And, we felt that the taste and the color best expressed it!”.

A winning streak’s a piece of cake

Hitting its latest home run in the generation of new food products through its Ren AI Pan - the most recent of its F&B-company collaborations - NEC now strides forward to new fields of innovation, beyond comestible goods; with yet-to-be announced ambitions, and eyes peeled for exciting new collaborations.

The influence of AI speech analysis is set to swiftly spread throughout our lives across a span of applications; to enhance online meetings, in the creation of inspection reports from voice transcripts, analysis of customer feedback, etc.

With NEC marrying its track record as a pioneer of innovation to the nature of AI’s untapped potential, we will boldly march toward orchestrating a brighter world by creating value through varied means - and collaborations - hitherto undreamed-of.

March 18, 2024